Edit a parameter in the IUIE

On this page:


Overview

Following is a description of the attributes and features of the GT and PDQ parameter editing page. For help, fill out the EDSD Support Form .

Page features

  • If you are performing an action that requires access to the IUIE server, you will see the message "Working..." next to the page title.
  • Global messages about the state of the page appear immediately below the page title.
  • The "Edit parameter" page presents tables with the following properties:
    • Each parameter is an editable row.
    • You can sort the table by column values by clicking a column header link. The sort column is highlighted in pale blue.
    • Placing focus in a table cell highlights the active row in dark blue. The active row highlight is maintained until you save your information.
    • When you change the value in a row, the row will be highlighted in pale yellow; a notice will appear in the message area that changes have been made and not saved. Row change highlights are maintained until you save your information.
    • Invalid table values are listed in red under the "Actions" column. An error notice will appear in the message area under the page title.
    • Numeric fields are right-justified with a border indicating the maximum size of the field.
    • Character fields are left-justified and have no border.
    • The "Numeric", "Mandatory", "Uppercase", and "Wildcards" columns each have checkboxes.
    • The "Description" field is a scrolling text box, which minimizes the width of table columns.

Parameter sequencing

To change the parameter ordering, you can edit sequence numbers each time you press Save, starting at 10 and increasing in increments of 10. Sorting the table by the "Sequence" does not renumber the parameters.

Add and edit format parameters

To insert format parameters (Heading and Horizontal Rule), in the "Actions" column, click Add formatting (a blue arrow). From the drop-down menu in the "Widget" column, choose Heading or Horizontal Rule; the default option is Heading. When you add a formatting parameter, the existing parameters are re-sequenced.

The editable fields for a Heading format parameter are "Label", "Description", and "Display Size". The number in the "Display Size" field represents the font size, and must be an integer between three (smallest, approximately 6pt) and seven (largest, approximately 30pt).

The editable fields for a Horizontal Rule format parameter are "Label" and "Description".

Valid values, synonyms, and defined widget values

To set the valid values synonym, click Edit Valid Values (an icon with a paper and pencil) in the "Valid Values" column.

To edit widget values, from the Synonym selection drop-down, choose Defined Widget Values. If you select another synonym, you will see the page for editing synonyms. If you do not select another synonym, you will only see the "Default Values" text field under the Synonym selection drop-down.

  • If the widget is Text Field, you will see a drop-down menu of possible synonyms. If you do not want to use a synonym, choose the first menu item, which is blank.
  • If the widget is Dropdown or List-box, the first option in the synonym drop-down menu is Defined Widget Values.

If you select Defined Widget Values, you will be able to add, delete, re-sequence, and edit labels and values, and also select default values. The "Edit widget values" screen displays all widget values as table rows with editable columns; only the "Sequence" column is sortable. If you select a valid values synonym, you can choose from the following options:

  • To open a blank synonym editing page, click Add.
  • To duplicate the synonym (except for the "Technical name", which is a required field), click Copy.
  • If you are an Admin user, you can delete the synonym without confirmation by clicking Delete. You must request synonym deletion through IUIE help.

You can select default values in the results of the synonym query.

To set up cascading parameter values, or to restrict values returned from the synonym query, use a parameter-specific WHERE clause. For more, see Set up a cascading parameter in the IUIE.

Synonym fields

Synonym editing fields are separate from the cascade/parameter-specific WHERE clause and default values. Each section begins with instructions on how to use buttons and fields in that section. Once saved, synonym changes are immediate and will affect all report objects using that synonym.

Synonym fields are initially populated with the values associated with the synonym, with results of the synonym query loaded into the "Returned Valid Values" section. The synonym selection, cascade/parameter specific WHERE clause, and default values are placed into the appropriate fields of the parameter editing screen upon clicking Return. Changes returned from the synonym editing page are not permanent for the parameter until you click Save on the parameter editing page.

A drop-down allows selection of only one returned value. A list-box allows multiple selections. The returned values display in the "Default Values" column as a comma-delimited list. "Maximum Number of Values" is set to the number of elements in the list of default values if the current maximum is less than this number.

If the synonym query has errors, you will see the Oracle error in the returned values drop-down or list-box, along with the source of the query. If the synonym query has no errors, but returns no results, you will see an error message to the right of the returned values drop-down or list-box.

Automatic changes to field values

"Widget", "Valid Values", "Default Values", and "Maximum Number of Values" are interrelated. Changes in one may result in automatic changes to others. If default values are set, they will be used to initialize the value of drop-downs, list-boxes, and "Valid Values" selection lists. If you change the "Widget" option to Dropdown, "Maximum Number of Values" will be set to 1. Display size for Dropdown is optional; the default value is 1.

PDQ and datagroup parameter editing differences

  PDQ Datagroup
"Datagroup" column
A PDQ parameter may refer to a column from any datagroup, so the parameter table for a PDQ has a "Datagroup" column to allow specification of the source datagroup for the parameter.
Parameters for a datagroup are all references to a column of the same datagroup. Since the datagroup does not vary between rows of the parameter table, there is no "Datagroup" column.
"Type" column
PDQ parameter processing is keyed by the "Widget" code of the parameter, so the Type column is not displayed.
Processing of datagroup parameters is keyed by the "Type" code of the column being referenced; datagroups have a "Type" column containing a drop-down of valid column data types.
Technical name
Parameters of a PDQ are user-defined. They are initialized with the next sequential numeric technical name. You can use or replace this name. There is no limit to the number of PDQ parameters.
A datagroup parameter is always the name of a column in the datagroup. Parameters are initially added to the next column of the datagroup, in either datagroup sequence number order or alphabetical order.

Selection of the add order for a datagroup is displayed as a drop-down menu at the top of the parameter table, and defaults to Column sequence.

The "Technical name" column of an added column is a drop-down containing all columns not referenced in other parameters. If the next column added by default is not the desired parameter, you can change it by selecting a different value in the drop-down. The label and description will change to correspond to the technical name selection. When all columns are represented as parameters, the Add button is disabled, you will not be able to edit the "Technical name" text field, and you will see a message stating that all possible parameters have been added.
Buttons
PDQ has a button that navigates to the publishing menu, as well as a Save button.
Datagroup has a button that navigates to the publishing menu, as well as the Import Metadata, Columns, and Save buttons.

This is document azgh in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2021-09-20 16:42:17.